How do Card Counting Strategies Work?
The point of all card counting systems is to keep a ratio of small cards relative to high cards. But there are different count strategies, with varying degrees of difficulty and effectiveness. By keeping a ratio of small cards to high cards, it gives the player a better indication of when you have the advantage over the casino by betting more. Count systems also determine when you should deviate from basic strategy.
We prefer to teach Hi-Lo. You can ready why below, but lots of people ask about other card counting strategies, so here is a breakdown of the most prominent card counting systems and the pros and cons of each.
| Count Strategy | ..2.. | ..3.. | ..4.. | ..5.. | ..6.. | ..7.. | ..8.. | ..9.. | ..T.. | Ace | .BC. | .PE. | .IC. | Bal? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hi-Lo |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .97 | .51 | .76 | Yes |
K-O |
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -1 | .98 | .55 | .78 | No |
Hi-Opt I |
0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | .88 | .61 | .85 | Yes |
Hi-Opt II |
1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | .91 | .67 | .91 | Yes |
Halves |
.5 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | .5 | 0 | -.5 | -1 | -1 | .99 | .56 | .72 | Yes |
Omega II |
1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 | 0 | .92 | .67 | .85 | Yes |
Zen |
1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -2 | -1 | .96 | .63 | .85 | Yes |
Definitions:
Betting Correlation (BC): How effective each card counting system is at predicting valuable betting situations. The higher, the better.
Playing Efficiency (PE): How effective each strategy is at determining playing decisions (i.e. Deviations). The higher, the better.
Insurance Correlation (IC): How effective the card counting strategy is at predicting when to buy insurance. Obviously, strategies that have a separate Ace side count are going to be better at determining when to buy insurance. But in our opinion, a side count strategy is not worth the effort. Put more time into playing more efficiently and acting less like a card counter.
Balanced (bal?): A balanced count begins and ends at zero. The alternative would be an unbalanced count (such as K-O), which has an imbalanced ratio of “low cards” to “high cards.” With an imbalanced count, you typically do not start at 0, but start at an “initial running count”, thus not needing to convert from a running count to a true count.
Why We teach the Hi-Lo card counting system:
It’s what we’ve won millions using, it’s what all the major Blackjack Teams used (MIT, the Hylanders, the Greeks), and if you team up with other card counters, it’s most likely what they use. We believe it gives you the biggest bang for your buck (that’s also why we teach 20-21 deviations, rather than fewer or more). We feel that you can get to a level of playing comfortably with Hi-Lo, and you can still handle everything else going on in a casino without your head exploding. The simpler counts cost too much EV for us to recommend. And more complicated counts increase the likelihood of mistakes and needing such unnatural focus that you’ll really stick out as a card counter.
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If you really want to get into the nitty gritty, we recommend The Theory of Blackjack by Peter A. Griffin.
